NEWS: First Wave of Acts Announced for Twisterella Festival 2015

This year’s festival is already shaping up to be an unmissable extravaganza of bands from near and afar

By Eugenie Johnson
on Friday, June 19th, 2015

Taking place on Saturday 10th October, independent music promoters Pay For The Piano and The Kids Are Solid Gold are once again bringing some of the best acts from near and afar to venues around Middlesbrough for this year’s Twisterella Festival. Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success, bringing some of the nation’s best touring acts to Teesside and showcasing a wealth of regional talent at the same time. This year’s festival builds on that foundation, with even the first wave of confirmed bands making it one of the most exciting one-day festivals in the region this year.

Some of the region’s biggest-hitting bands are set to perform, with wonky-rock band SLUG, retro rockers Hyde & Beast and the beautifully baroque new project from The Chapman Family frontman, Kingsley Chapman & The Murder all confirmed for the event. They’re joined by some of the biggest up and coming acts from around the country, including indie rockers Fatherson, BBC favourites and electro-pop wizards Fickle Friends, laid-back surf-pop maestro Beach Baby and thoroughly danceable Scottish four-piece Model Aeroplanes.

A whole bevvy of local acts have also been confirmed for the festival, and BBC Tees’ Bob Fischer has picked some of his favourite Teesside bands to open up proceedings. He’s selected genre-bending alt-pop band Serinette, quirky indie group Dressed Like Wolves, skewed folksters General Sherman and singer-songwriter George Boomsma to kick the festival off. They’re joined by other regional acts such as hip hop and rock fusionists Bi:Lingual, atmospheric rockers Keep Breathing and math rock sensations Plaza. Last year’s show-stealers Avalanche Party and Mousesare also set to make triumphant returns to the festival.

Festival co-director Henry Carden said: “We’re thrilled to have secured the continued support of our venue partners. They all share our vision for creating a vibrant day of live music right in the heart of our town. It was incredible to see hundreds of people enjoying some of the brightest and best breaking bands in the centre of Middlesbrough last year and we’re already incredibly proud of the line-up we’ve put together for this year’s event – we’re sure you’ll discover your new favourite band.”

Events this year are taking place across a range of venues, including Teesside University Students’ Union, The Keys, Westgarth Social Club and TSOne, with pop-up sessions panned at Sticky Fingers and The Twisted Lip. With so many top locations to fill, we can expect even more amazing bands to be announced in the coming weeks.